Has Anyone Got Into Uni With Just Gcses And Work Experience??

mirandauk2006

Just wondering if this is possible!? i havent taken A levels as i went straight into work after school. (im 27 now!)
A university lecturer on yahoo questions said to me that mature students are usually welcome onto courses as they generally tend to be better students in the way of commitment and time management, but hearing anyones experiences on how they got into uni without all the 'recommended' qualifications would be great!
thanks

Reply 1

eDDeboo

You can get into university, easy.

But if you want a considerably good uni, might be good to do a fast-track 1 year A'level in evenings

Reply 2

Speedbird2008

Would be difficult... e-mail or ring the University in question! :smile:

Reply 3

Matureb

Not sure which part of Suffolk you are from. I am doing an access course at West Suffolk college and will be going to uni in September - in my 50`s. It`s 3 days a week though. If you can`t do that, then an OU foundation course (60 points) would show commitment. The main problem with the OU is that if you start next Jan, you won`t get your results until Christmas 2009, which will be too late for uni in 2009.
Good luck in whatever you choose.

Reply 4

Suis Je Bovvered ?

You could get into uni with just GCSEs and work experience. However, you'd probably have to do a foundation year first, making the whole degree a 4 year degree, as opposed to a 3 year degree.

You could, however, do an access to higher education course. These are offered to mature students wishing to gain access to a university, and are offered in all different kinds of subjects. The other alternative is fast track A' levels. But you'll find it more difficult to locate the fast track A' levels.

If all else fails, you could do one year with the open university and transfer to a university for year two.

Good luck :smile:

Reply 5

zandiana jones

I only have one Higher (a-level) and I got accepted into 4 uni's....

The thing is though I've worked hard to get there. I've volunteered on two proffesional excavations. I've started my own one, where I've been teaching my local school children the techniques of excavtion and identifying artefacts. Been on the Radio, and done two presentations (with a fully qualified Archaeologist) about my work with the children. I've also been mentioned in the paper twice about it too. I'm also writing a field journal, and attempting a book thing about the Archaeology in my local area.

I think its possible if you have relitive experience. I've put off applying to uni for 2 years thinking I wouldn't get in. This year I decided to at least try, I was getting fed up, and I was really getting down that I wasnt studying Archaeology. I was so relieved and suprised to find out that I got 4 offers, one unconditional and 3 conditionals.

Reply 6

mirandauk2006

Hi everyone, thanks for all your comments and advice. I decided to contact the university and spoke to one of the early years lecturers. I explained my situation/past history and she said she sees no reason why i wouldnt be accepted and to apply- she said what you hear alot, about mature students are usually welcome onto courses as they often tend to be harder workers and more commited(no offence to younger students) if there taking up studies when they have children and financial commitments, they are not usually there just for the social life! Obviously i know this wouldnt apply if people were attempting to take anything highly academic and competitive (ie medicine/dentristry) as places are extremely competitive so qualifications are much more important then. So anyway will proceed with application and let you know how i get on!
Like you said Zanderson, you dont know if you dont try these things and really what have i got to lose!
Thanks again.

Reply 7

mirandauk2006

By the way Zanderson, you sound incredibly passionate about your Archaeology- Its nice to hear about peoples interests, sound like you do a great deal of good work in your area! good luck with your course X

Reply 8

zandiana jones

mirandauk2006

Thank you very much....

And all the best with your application. I'm sure you'll get on well.

x :wink:

Reply 9

Tarts_n_Vicars

Sorry only just saw this thread....I did it :smile:

I dropped out of school after doing 1 year of my A-levels so effectively applied and was accepted to uni with only my GCSEs. There was never any talk of a foundation year in my case (the better your GCSE results the better your chances of bypassing the foundation year) and I entered with people who had just done their A-Levels. I didn't find it academically a struggle by any means (I was 23 when I came to uni).

My work experience was totally irrelevant to my course of study so writing a PS demonstrating a love of a subject when I had worked in a completely different field for years was difficult, but it worked out in the end (well hopefully, I graduate next month).

Good luck, best decision I ever made looking back! :biggrin:

Reply 10

~ Purple Rose ~

PS Reviewer

It depends on the course. Often unis will want to you do A-Levels/an Access course to show that you have recent learning and can work at a higher level than GCSE. There are exceptions though, so you should contact the places you are considering applying to and see what they say. Some courses will take you if you have a large amount of work experience, for example.

Reply 11

threeportdrift

Careers Forum Helper

It is certainly possible, but I think you have to have a decent chunk of work experience 5+ years and the work has to be something that supports your application. That doesn't mean that it necessarily has to be academic, but they will be looking to see that you have the additional skills, research, writing, creation of arguments, meeting deadlines etc. I have a friend who did a Masters degree at Cambridge without even having an undergrad degree, however, they did have 30 years of relevant work experience that proved they had the associated skills for the course. When you apply, you just have to highlight how your work has prepared you for the course, any reading you have done, relevant volunteer work etc.

Reply 12

EggCustard

I applied to five uni's and got unconditionals on all.

I left school at 15 with 1 O level (changed schools at lot etc!) and then did some more O levels part time a few years later so now I have five.

I'll be 37 for the Sept 08 start and I'm doing the Open Univeristy 'Openings' course to help practise some essay writing just in case!

I'll be doing Digital Media and have worked as a (self taught) photographic retoucher for a few years and done a little bit of DTP etc - just odd bits but with no actual training from anyone - so this experience has helped.

I did have to show a portfolio (yikes... didn't actually have one so I just put bits of sketches, photos, photoshopped examples in) and they said I would have any problems getting in at all - which was nice to hear.

I've accepted one place at London College of Communication... I've yet to hear of anyone doing this course on this forum or any other student forums... let alone if they're any mature students - hope so.. be a bit weird hanging out with 18 year olds ;-)

Reply 13

mirandauk2006

Hi everyone-

Just a quick update to say I applied for the Early Childhood Studies degree at the University Campus Suffolk two weeks ago and have come back from holiday and found a letter offering me a place! So i'm really pleased and now looking forward to starting the next chapter in my life- Thanks for all the replies and good luck to everybody else on there chosen/current courses.

Reply 14

EggCustard

mirandauk2006

Congratulations - well done! :biggrin:

I got my entitlement letter from the finance peeps so it's all falling into place for me too :smile:

Reply 15

~ Purple Rose ~

PS Reviewer

mirandauk2006

Congratulations!

Reply 16

Smillward

Hi, Yep i got an unconditional offer this week! SO bring on suffolk, going to study Criminology and hopefully stay in Athena Hall. Whats everyone else doing?

Reply 17

wizardtop

Original post by EggCustard

good for you EggCustard obviously all your hardwork and shree commitment and motivation has finally paid off.I wouldnt worry too much about the younger ones.I was 29 when i first went to university and i quite often got the much younger undergraduates coming to me for advice about things,which i found to something i didnt expect.I just decided not to make my age a issue and just got involved in the various activities that were going on at the time.